WRTC 2014 to Conduct Station Tests During IARU HF World Championship

WRTC 2014, Inc -- host of the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) competition -- will be conducting station tests during the 2012 IARU HF World Championship this weekend (1200 UTC Saturday, July 14 through 1200 UTC Sunday, July 15). Thirteen stations will be set up in the WRTC competition configuration, using sites planned for the 2014 event. Awards will be offered for working the WRTC test stations. The test stations will be active on 80-10 meters on both CW and SSB, with many of the test stations will be operating according to the WRTC competition rules.

“This is an important milestone in our preparation efforts,” said WRTC Chairman Doug Grant, K1DG. “Beam teams will collect equipment and do the setup and tear-down of the tower and antennas at each site. Site teams will be responsible for managing the site and the generator for the weekend. Operating teams have volunteered to put the stations on the air so we can gather data on propagation and site effectiveness. It will be exciting to finally convert planning and preparation into action.”

The call signs to be used by the WRTC test sites are:

K1GQ

K1RQ

K1ZD

N2KW

N9NB

NI1L

W1HH

W1MA

W1MJ

W1SJ

W1UE

W1UJ

WB1Z

“One mission of the station test is to confirm that all sites are relatively equal,” said Tom Frenaye, K1KI, who is serving as the WRTC 2014 Director of the Site Acquisition and Testing Committee. “As you hear or work the test stations, please make a note of their signals in comparison to the other WRTC test stations.” Signal reports and other feedback should be sent via e-mail.

To help generate more activity and data, WRTC 2014 will be offering awards to encourage people to work the test stations. Everyone who works the WRTC test stations on four or more band-modes will be entered into a drawing, with 10 winners being drawn.

No log submissions are required. Simply work the test stations on as many band modes as possible. IARU HQ stations are not eligible for the awards. Logs from the test stations will be made public.

The World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) is held every four years and consists of approximately 50 two-person teams of Amateur Radio operators from around the world, competing in a test of operating skill. Unlike most on-the-air competitions, all stations are required to use identical antennas from the same geographic region, eliminating all variables except operating ability. Previous WRTCs have been held in Seattle (1990), San Francisco (1996), Slovenia (2000), Finland (2002), Brazil (2006) and Russia (2010).